Golborne
| Golborne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Country | England |
| Shire county | Lancashire |
| Council | Wigan Council |
| Population | 24,169 (2011) |
Golborne, sometimes archaically Gowborne, is a town in southern Lancashire located roughly halfway between Wigan and Warrington, with those towns being 5 miles to the north and south respectively. The town is contiguous with Lowton. Adjacent settlements include Ashton-in-Markefield, Haydock and Newton-le-Willows, all around 2 miles from Golborne. The Haydock Park Racecourse, a renown venue for horse racing since the 1890s, is at the meting point of Golborne with its neighbours.
Geography
Golborne sits in the far east of the West Derby Hundred in southern Lancashire. It is approximately halfway between Liverpool and Manchester, with those cities lying around 15 miles to the west ad east, respectively.
History
Bede (672-735 AD) recorded a well near Golborne in Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (compiled c. 731 AD) dedicated to the memory of Oswald. There is some suggestion that this well may have been the site at which Penda, the Pagan king of Mercia, slew the Christian king Oswald at the Battle of Maserfield (642 AD). However, the battle is more likely to have taken place further south, close to Oswestry in Shropshire.
Golborne Colliery was first sunk in the 1860s.[1]
The town was the site of the Golborne mining disaster on 18 March 1979. An explosion of methane (firedamp) killed 10 colliery workers and seriously injured another.[2] A memorial to the disaster exists in the town.
Coal production ceased in the town in 1989, when Golborne colliery was finally closed.
Transportation
Despite lying on the West Coast Mainline between London and Glasgow, Golborne no longer has a railway station, with that having ceased operations in 1961 for passenger traffic and 1967 for commercial goods. In recent years, there has been a campaign to reopen Golborne's railway station.
Notable people
Professional wrestling
- Dynamite Kid (1958-2018) - one half of the 1980s tag team "the British Bulldogs" (born Thomas Billington)
- Davey Boy Smith (1962-2002) - one half of the 1980s tag team "the British Bulldogs".